Nightlight
by Raven Ehtar
Summary: Even the children of a God can be frightened of the dark... Avengers / Norse mythology fusion. One-shot. Frostiron. Rated for safety. Part IV of "Loki's Brood" series.


_**A/N: **__Part II for __Loki's Brood__ up already? You betcha, Red Rider! Actually I wrote out this one before __Caregiver__, but decided to hold off on posting it until we had at least the very beginning out there for people to read. Note, this is much shorter than Part I. I'm not holding myself to any kind of word count range for these, so you never know how long or short and entry into the series is going to be, nor what kind of tone it will have. We're going entry to entry on parameters, the only thing that's certain is that it's all going to take place in the same 'verse or continuity, all having something to do with each other. _

_And seriously, guys, thank you **so much **for the overwhelming support that you've given me on this series already. And I mean that, it's overwhelming! But very welcome, as well. ;) I'm glad you're all enjoying it so far, as I'm **certainly** enjoying the writing of it, and look forward to hearing what you think as we progress! *HUGS!*_

_We've got a time jump ahead from the first installment, be prepared!_

_(See __**A/N2**__ after the fic for more continuity notes, please. :D)_

_**Series: **__Loki's Brood__, Part IV_

_**Betas:**__ SkyTurtle_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own __The Avengers__,__Thor,__ nor the characters from them. I do not make any money from the writing of this story._

…

Nightlight

Raven Ehtar

…

A good night's sleep was a luxury that Tony had always kind of treasured. On those nights when he wasn't up until the small hours schmoozing with corporate suits halfway around the worlds or putting in appearances with his company, or out hitting the private and much more fun parties on his own, it was almost impossible to shut his brain up enough to drift off. The nights when he made it home before dawn – and without some bit of fluff on his arm – he was down in the lab or in his garage, tinkering away until his mind was numb and mute, and he could sleep. That was usually either as the sun was coming up or when it was already well into the sky. It was never long before either JARVIS or Pepper was rousing him out of bed again. Sleeping at night was practically a myth so far as Tony Stark was concerned.

At least it had been, until he'd gained a regular bed partner. Somehow just having someone else to share the sheets with on a regular basis had steadied out his entire routine. It certainly put a stop to his more transitory bed buddies, and someone who could and _would_ drag him to the bedroom, no matter where in the world he happened to be, kept him on a regular schedule. It was a side effect to being in a steady relationship he hadn't expected, but found he rather liked.

It sure as hell wasn't something he'd expected when getting involved with Loki.

Of course there was the little fact that he hadn't expected to become involved with Loki _at all_. Seriously, who would have seen it coming when their first meeting had been one taking the other to a glass cage for interrogations? Well… maybe there had been _something_, but the significance was a little lost in the whole 'maddened possessed renegade god taking over the planet' thing. Suffice it to say that none of them, neither Tony, Loki, nor any of the rest of the Avengers team, (and sure as hell no one in S.H.I.E.L.D.), could have foreseen a future when the two of them would have become a couple.

There had been obstacles, not the least of which included S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers team, and even Tony and Loki themselves. It had taken a year of circling each other warily before they finally gave into the underlying tensions and decided 'fuck it.' It took about _another_ year to get the various people and organizations around them to – well, not _accept_ it so much, but to at least shut up about it. The team was all more or less good with the situation, but S.H.I.E.L.D. was less sanguine. Tony couldn't really blame them, but he wasn't worried enough about it to continue beating his head against that particular brick wall. Hell, it had taken him more than three months just to get _Loki_ to admit that there was anything more between them than a fling. A repeated fling, but a fling. S.H.I.E.L.D. could just suck it up.

It had been worth it, though, in Tony's not-so-humble opinion. It was a vast improvement having Loki working on their side as a kind of unofficial Avenger than to have him working against them. The development had also forced the two Asgardian brothers to at least start the long road to a reconciliation, as Loki now lived at the Tower and Thor – with the rest of the team – had a floor to himself that he used while on Earth. And on a purely personal level Tony found he liked having someone to rely on as he could with Loki. As contradictory as the thought might have seemed, putting 'reliable' and 'Loki' in the same sentence, such proved to be the case. He'd thought once it would be Pepper that would fill that role, but… no. Doors closed best not opened again, let sleeping dogs lie and all that. Loki was difficult, unpredictable and complex, and possessed a moral compass that Tony doubted worked in only two dimensions. He challenged Tony in ways he wouldn't have expected practically every day, and at the same time came across to him on the same wavelength. They understood each other. And despite the chaos that seemed inherent to Loki's nature, he gave Tony a sense of stability, the feeling of having someone at his back, supporting him in ways even the Avengers couldn't. There was probably something unhealthy about it.

Plus the sex was amazing.

So was the sleep, with or without the sex before it. What had once been a rarity in Tony's life, regular times for bed and restful nights, abruptly became routine. Who knew that would be one of Loki's quirks? But it was, and now Tony enjoyed regular nights of uninterrupted sleep, curled up beside the tall Asgardian prince.

Mostly uninterrupted.

Once upon a time Tony could sleep through just about anything. Long hours of work and play with little rest helped with that. Since his time in Afghanistan though, it was much easier to disturb him. He woke up to the smallest sounds, usually with a jolt, adrenaline racing through him.

So it was that when the barely-there sound of footsteps across the bedroom carpet made it to Tony, still in a deep slumber, his eyes flew open, every nerve on high alert. He didn't move, but strained every one of his senses to discern who or what it was that had invaded his and Loki's bedroom. It wouldn't do to leap out at a sound in the dark until he had a better idea of what it was, and whether he should be leaping _toward_ or _away_.

It was just as well he restrained himself. He was curled up behind Loki – spooning, though the Asgardian denied such things ever happened with his consent – and his arc reactor was mostly covered. But just enough light escaped to illuminate a little face come to the edge of the bed on Loki's side, features half covered by a curtain of dark hair.

Tony passed a hand over his face, his battle ready muscles abruptly slackening. "Hela? What's the matter, sweetheart?"

The girl, one dark eye staring at him under her trailing bangs, moved the hand that was perpetually pressed against her mouth away. She wasn't a thumb sucker, but she did find comfort in having fingers and mouth close together at night. "Nightmare," she whispered behind her hand.

"The same one," he asked, feeling bleary as the adrenaline drained away, "or different one?"

"Same," was the tiny, lisped answer.

Tony sighed. There was a lot in Loki's life he only knew fragmented pieces of. One of those areas included the early life of his children, but if their nightmares and stray comments were anything to go by, then their lot had been even worse than their father's. And it was probably a very good thing chances were slim Tony would ever meet 'Grampa Woden.' His temper and protectiveness of the sprats would probably equal a short life expectancy in His presence. Loki's kids were _his_ kids now, and anyone threatening them, past or present, was automatically on his list of faces to break. "You remember what we told you before, right honey? Dreams are just little movies, they can't hurt you."

Hela nodded silently, her hand back firmly in place, looking down at the floor in embarrassment or lingering fear.

Tony let her stand a moment, waiting for her to open up more if she wanted. When she remained silent he gave in. It was a habit they were trying to break the kids of… but you had to be pretty cold-hearted to send a girl like Hela back to a room full of nightmares. More cold-hearted than Tony was.

"Do you want to sleep with us tonight?" he asked gently.

Hela's little head came back up right away, nodding eagerly, eye open wide.

Tony smiled. Even if it was a habit they were trying to break, it was hard not to love that little half face. He motioned her up. "Come on, then."

It wasn't until Tony began to scoot backwards in bed, lifting up the covers for Hela to clamber under that Loki finally stirred, woken by motion rather than sound. He grumbled softly. "What is it, Stark?"

"It's the young princess, babe. Help her up, would you? You're closer."

"Hmm?" It took another second for Loki to wake enough to comprehend. He turned his head back towards Tony, then sought out Hela, who was easier to make out now that Tony's reactor was fully exposed. "Hela…?" he paused. Tony could almost see the way he was scrutinizing his daughter by the way she stilled under his eyes. "The nightmare again?" he asked quietly.

The girl nodded. "Yes, daddy," she said, leaving her hand in place.

Loki sighed, much the same way Tony had done a minute before. Instead of asking her any further questions, or telling her not to be afraid, he reached out and lifted her up easily into the bed. Tony held the blankets up for her as she snuggled down between them, and Loki turned over to his other side so they were both facing the girl as she settled. When everyone had arranged themselves, Tony was still on his left side, facing the door, Loki was on his right, facing him and Hela, and Hela was on her right, facing Tony, her small back pressed to her father. Loki stroked his daughter's hair in the dark, soothing her, humming a soft tune under his breath.

Hela sighed as her body relaxed, one hand at her lips, the other at Tony's arc reactor, fingers splayed and cutting barred shadows in the bluish glow cast on her face. Tony smiled down at her. She had a tendency to hold onto his reactor whenever she slept with them, as though making sure the light wouldn't leave while she slept. He looked up at Loki, smile still in place. The Asgardian's mouth quirked in response, then his head settled back into the pillows, his eyes slipping closed. Tony followed suit, allowing himself to be lulled back to sleep by the warmth and two sets of breathing.

He was just getting to that comfortable zone just before dropping off completely, where he could feel the muscles in his back going slack and his heart slowing, and his thoughts took on the surreal quality of dreams, when he heard the door crack open a little farther than where Hela had left it. Tony didn't have to look or ask who it was this time. The little intruder had very distinctive footfalls.

"What's up, Fen?" he asked, voice thick and slurred to his own ears.

When the only response was a high pitched little whine, it was Loki who spoke up, a hint of warning in his voice. "Vonargand…"

The whine stopped. Despite the sleep that still made Loki's tone a bit less ominous than it could be, he only used the name 'Vonargand' on his son – as opposed to 'Fenrir' – when the boy was either in trouble or very close to it. It was the equivalent of using both first and last names on a human child. After a couple moments a little boy's voice floated to them. "It's dark in our room. I don't like it."

And by 'don't like it' he meant he was scared, Tony knew, though the boy would fight tooth and nail before he would ever admit it. A year ago he would have thought it amusing that Fenrir, a boy who was on occasion a wolf cub, was frightened of the dark. Several months of dealing with terrified, shivering children in the middle of the night – both Fen and Hela having suffered from night terrors – and a somewhat halting, broken explanation as to where the fears had stemmed from had cured him of that humor.

Now he just patted the pillows above his and Loki's head with a heavy hand. "Hop on up, pup."

There were a few moments of chaotic motion as Fen leapt up into the bed – without help – and scrambled up to the pillows, draping himself over the little bit of softness that wasn't taken up by either Tony's or Loki's heads. Fur tickled at Tony's forehead as Fen flopped himself down, a cold paw lightly cuffing him before he settled down completely. He knew Fen was arranged so his head was above him rather than Loki when he heard the soft, repeated thumps of a tail beating at the pillows as it wagged.

"No playing, Fenrir," Loki grumbled. "Just go to sleep, please."

The thumps subsided, and the room descended into quiet again. After a few minutes the breathing above his head deepened and the small muscle twitches and phantom running that signaled Fen falling asleep began.

Tony, when this routine had still been new, would have tried dropping back to sleep himself at this point, but experience had taught him better. If only Hela had come to spend the night with them, or if it had been Hela and her other brother, Jörmungandr, then maybe he could risk slipping back to sleep. But with it being Hela and Fen who were with them now, it was only a matter of time before…

There was a tiny, polite clearing of a throat.

Yep, there it was. And even though he had been listening for it, he hadn't heard the boy come in. He was unnaturally silent at times, even when he was walking around on two feet.

"Yes, Jör?" Apparently Loki also knew not to drift off when only two out of the three had clambered into bed with them. Tony had the impression that before coming to live at the Tower, family life for the four of them hadn't been quite so regular or domestic – not that it was the suburban dream now, what with the hero jobs and all – but they had taken to it well, slipping into patterns that made them all seem very human.

_With a few obvious exceptions_, Tony thought as Fen's fur tickled his face again.

Like his footsteps, Jör's voice was so quiet it was hard to make out even in the dark silence of the bedroom. "I'm lonely."

And well he might be. The triplets didn't share a bed, unless it was Tony and Loki's bed they were all piled on, but they did share a room. With both Hela and Fen bunked with them, poor Jör _would_ be lonely in a bedroom all by himself.

Tony watched as Loki reached one arm backwards over the edge of the bed towards the last of his children. "Come along, then," he said, not sounding at all as put out as the words alone would suggest.

Loki's arm dipped as he took on Jör's weight, then the triangular head of a large, white serpent appeared, curling over the curve of his bicep. The snake coiled up Loki's arm swiftly, then across his body, crossing the gap between his and Tony's bodies so he hung suspended over Hela and looked at Tony with a pale, icy blue eye. Tony smiled at Jör in his scaly form and stuck his tongue out at the boy. It was impossible on his reptilian face, but he appeared to smile back and flickered his little forked tongue back at Tony good naturedly. Then the slender body worked its way under the covers, zig-zagging back and forth until he was looped over the two of them, coils gathering around their waists. It was where Jör typically liked to sleep when in their bed, as it was one of the warmest possible places, though his head usually ended up peeking out from an edge in order to breathe properly at some point during the night. It had taken a few weeks at the beginning for Tony to get used to this particular aspect of the kids sharing their bed. He wasn't frightened of snakes generally, but having one in bed with him while he slept had been a little bit creepy at the start. Now it was comforting to have that weight draped over him.

With five of them sharing space it was noticeably more difficult to move, despite how large a bed they had. Hela between them, Jör draped on top of them and Fen acting as a kind of hat. Tony hadn't ever given much thought to having kids. He hadn't really allowed himself to think about it, to be honest. It had never felt like his bag, and considering his own experience with childhood he'd more or less decided that giving the scene a try from the other side was something best avoided. He didn't have much desire to pass on his screw ups to a whole new generation.

And yet here he was, helping to raise three rug rats, and with someone who'd had an even crappier family dynamic to come from than he'd had. Between the two of them, who knew how badly they were messing these kids up?

But… they didn't seem to be doing too badly, even if he did say so himself. Each of the triplets had their issues, their quirks, their little idiosyncrasies that made each of them a challenge and kept their fathers – and their extended family of the rest of the Avengers team – on their toes and guessing, no doubt. But they were good kids; intelligent, creative, mischievous to varying degrees, and kind. And happy, if Tony had any say in the matter.

Tony started a little, realizing he'd been staring at Hela and one of Jör's coils peeking out from the blankets. He looked away, and noticed Loki was, in his turn, staring at _him_, a knowing smile curving his mouth.

Tony chuckled softly, self-consciously. "They seem determined to keep coming in here," he commented lowly.

Loki nodded, the fingers of his left hand still stroking Hela's hair. "Yes, they do. And until they get much bigger I think we can depend upon at least the occasional night visit."

"Oh yeah? Don't think they'll be able to make it a whole night without company?"

"It's not that, Stark. They enjoy coming in here."

"That right?"

Loki nodded, looked down at the sleeping form of his daughter. Even in the dark Tony could make out the tiny change in his face as he did. The softening of his expression, how the skin around his eyes seemed to relax and his lips became less pursed. "Yes," he said, even his tone gentler. "Do you know what they told me one day? 'Iron-daddy has a built in nightlight!'" Tony could hear a mix of emotions in Loki's tone, primary among them being amusement. Though he was pretty sure he could make out just the tiniest bit of bitterness as well.

Tony decided to ignore it for now. He had a good idea where it was coming from and now was not the time to get into it.

"Well," he said, glancing at each of the triplets. "I've been much worse things than a kid's nightlight… and few things could be considered nobler." He grinned. "I think I can put up with some interrupted sleep patterns for that honor."

…

_**A/N2:**__ Much shorter, but definitely a scene I wanted to show. :)_

Vonargand: _This comes from __Selvårv Stigårð's translation of the Skáldskaparmál, (part of the Prose Edda), where Loki is called _'the father of Vonargand, who is Fenris-wolf'_. In another translation, 'Vonargand' is changed to _'the spewer of the river Van'_, (Jesse Byock translation). I decided I wanted Loki to have a name he used for Fenrir for when he was misbehaving – and Fenrir would be the one who would need it the most – and almost went with 'Fenris,' but when I found Vonargand I liked that better. It may not be grammatically correct or whatnot, but just remember this is a 'for fun' story, and don't take what I say as, you know, __**scholarly**__ or anything. ;)_

Continuity Disclaimer:_ This is going to be a standard disclaimer attached to __**every**__ fic I post that has to do with the __Avengers__, so everyone knows where I'm coming from in terms of characters and world canon. _

_For the most part, assume that I am coming from __**only**__ the movies. __Iron Man 1 & 2__, __The Incredible Hulk__, __Thor__, __Captain America__, and __Avengers__ – and any sequels that come after these unless mentioned otherwise. I realize that I'm missing out on worlds of story and character development, but I would be starting from square one and 50+ years of backstory, (each individual character's series(es), the team series(es) and any/all crossovers or notable appearances), is more than a little daunting. So as much as I want to know everything about everything – trust me, this is __**really**__ frustrating for me – I just can't. I'm picking my battles and this one is a 'nope.' So as a result my __Avengers__ fics will not have 'comic book depth' to them. Sorry._

_What will they have? The movies, of course, one or two short comic arcs that I've been convinced to pick up that will have little to no effect on the continuity, Norse mythology – since I __**do**__ read that – and any details that I can pick up from other fans or that I research on my own. The result of all of this is usually going to be a sort of fusion that hopefully works and isn't too confounding for anyone. :)_

_**This installment came very quickly after the first. Further installments **__**will**__** take more time, so be prepared!**_

_**Thanks for reading, everyone!**_


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